Saba Sheba ( Infinite And Accurate Knowledge ) 1-9
In the Name of God, the Lord of Grace, the Ever Merciful.
All praise is due to God, to whom belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth; and to Him will be due all praise in the life to come. He is truly Wise, All-Aware. (1)
He knows all that goes into the earth and all that comes out of it; all that descends from the skies and all that ascends to them. He is the Merciful, the truly Forgiving. (2)
The unbelievers say: ‘Never shall the Last Hour come upon us!’ Say: ‘Yes, by my Lord, it shall most certainly come to you. It is He who knows all that lies beyond the reach of human perception. Not an atom’s weight in the heavens or the earth escapes Him; nor is there anything smaller or larger but is recorded in a clear book, (3)
so that He may reward those who believe and do righteous deeds. It is they who shall have forgiveness and generous provisions.’ (4)
As for those who strive against Our revelations, seeking to defeat their purpose, these shall have a most painful suffering. (5)
Those who are endowed with knowledge are well aware that what has been revealed to you by your Lord is indeed the truth, and that it guides to the way that leads to the Almighty, to whom all praise is due. (6)
The unbelievers say: ‘Shall we point out to you a man who will tell you that, when you have been utterly torn into pieces, you shall be restored to life in a new act of creation? (7)
Has he invented a lie about God, or is he a madman?’ No! It is those who do not believe in the life to come who are suffering torment as they have gone far in error. (8)
Do they not consider how much of the sky and the earth lies open before them and how much lies hidden from them? If We so willed, We could cause the earth to swallow them, or cause fragments of the sky to fall upon them. In all this, there is a sign for every servant of God turning to Him in repentance. (9)
Where Praise Is Due
This sūrah, which speaks at length about the idolaters who associated partners with God, denied His Messenger, doubted the hereafter and dismissed the idea of resurrection, begins with praising God. All praise is due to Him for being God, even though no human being utters a word of praise addressed to Him. He is praised by the universe and all creation, even though some human beings take a different attitude.
Coupled with this is God’s attribute of being the Sovereign of the universe. No one has any portion of heaven or earth: He alone owns all there is. This is the central issue of faith: God’s oneness.
“To Him will be due all praise in the life to come.” (Verse 1) All the praise offered by all His servants, including those who disbelieved in Him in this life or associated partners with Him as a result of being led astray, will converge in the life to come and be addressed totally and purely to Him. “He is truly Wise, All-Aware.” (Verse 1)
Whatever He does is based on wisdom. Indeed, He conducts the affairs of this life and the Next, and the affairs of the entire universe in perfect wisdom. Moreover, He is aware of everything that takes place, and His knowledge is full, accurate and absolute.
The sūrah gives us a notion of God’s knowledge, portrayed against the background of heaven and earth: “He knows all that goes into the earth and all that comes out of it; all that descends from the skies and all that ascends to them.” (Verse 2) This is a vast image drawn in a few simple words, painting an amazing multitude of things, motions, sizes, shapes, forms and meanings that go beyond any imagination. Should all the people on earth spend their entire lives monitoring and recording what takes place in just one moment of the things mentioned in the verse, they would not be able to do so. How many things go into the earth in such a moment? How many leave it? And how many come down from the sky or go up into it?
Consider what goes into the earth: the seeds that are buried in the ground, the worms, insects, crawling creatures, drops of rain, gases, electrical rays... all poured into every corner of this vast earth, yet God’s eye watches them all. Then look at what comes out of it: plants shooting out, springs gushing forth, erupting volcanoes, emanating gases, crawlers and insects leaving their underground homes. How many countless things do we see and know about that come out of the earth and how many countless others we do not see or know about?
Reflect also on what comes down from the skies: drops of rain, comets, meteors, rays that burn or give light, divine orders, acts of grace that favour certain creatures while benefiting the whole universe, and also provisions God grants to His servants in plentiful or measured quantities. Then turn over in your mind what goes up into the sky: the breathing of humans, animals and plants, as well as other creatures only known to God, and supplications, uttered aloud or in secret, heard only by God.
How many a soul of creatures known or unknown to us is gathered and rises to God; how many an angel ascends to carry out God’s order; how many drops of seawater evaporate and rise into the atmosphere; how many molecules of gas emanate from all type of creatures?
Why A Judgement Day?
The inevitable arrival of the Last Hour and God’s knowledge that does not exclude anything small or large have a definite purpose: “so that He may reward those who believe and do righteous deeds. It is they who shall have forgiveness and generous provisions. As for those who strive against Our revelations, seeking to defeat their purpose, these shall have a most painful suffering.” (Verses 4-5) Everything is based on God’s wisdom who has created everything according to a set measure so as to administer the right reward or punishment for the believers or those who exert all efforts to turn people away from the truth. Those who give credence to their faith by good actions earn God’s forgiveness of any errors they make or sins they commit. They also have ‘generous provisions’ We note that the sūrah frequently mentions the provisions and sustenance God grants. Hence, it is fitting that the happiness they are assured to have in the life to come is described here as ‘provisions’, which in fact it is. The others, who strive hard to turn people away from God and His message will receive some of the worst type of punishment which fits their wicked efforts. Thus is God’s purpose fulfilled.
Within the overall context of God’s knowledge and His purpose the next statement makes clear that those endowed with knowledge realize that what the Prophet Muĥammad receives from God is the truth, providing sound guidance:
“Those who are endowed with knowledge are well aware that what has been revealed to you by your Lord is indeed the truth, and that it guides to the way that leads to the Almighty, to whom all praise is due.” (Verse 6)
Some reports suggest that the phrase, those who are endowed with knowledge, refers to the people of earlier revelations who are told in their scriptures about the Qur’ān and its provision of true guidance. However, the Qur’ānic verse has a wider scope.
All those endowed with proper knowledge, at all times and wherever they happen to be, will realize this on the basis of their knowledge, if it is truly sound. The Qur’ān is open for all people throughout all generations. It includes enough truth to reveal itself to everyone who has sound knowledge. It also states the truth inherent in the very existence of the universe.
Moreover, the Qur’ān “guides to the way that leads to the Almighty, to whom all praise is due.” (Verse 6) The way leading to the Almighty is the system He has placed in the universe and chosen for mankind so that their lives may be in harmony with the universe they live in. It is the law that applies to absolutely everything that takes place in the universe.
The Qur’ān provides such guidance through the concept it gives believers of the universe: its values, relations, man’s place and role in it, the cooperation of all its parts in the fulfilment of God’s will and purpose and the harmony common to them.
It also provides a sound basis for human thinking so as to make it consistent with the interaction between human nature and the universe. This enables man to understand the nature of the universe and its laws so as to use these in a positive way. The Qur’ān also lays down a system of education for humanity, empowering the individual to interact harmoniously with the rest of mankind, and empowering mankind to do the same with the rest of God’s creation in the universe, comfortably benefiting by its nature. The legislation it lays down is consistent with man’s circumstances as well as with the universal laws that apply to all creation. Thus, man does not become the odd one out among the countless communities of creatures in the universe. It is the Qur’ān that leads to that way: it is the guide provided by the Creator of man and the system that suits him. Consider the traveller who is guided on his journey by the engineer who built the road he is travelling on: how fortunate he would feel for having such expertise! How, then, about a guide provided by the One who originated the way and the person travelling on it?